Two Lehigh Valley senior care facilities owned by an Allentown senior-living developer have been sold for $13 million.

New York City-based real estate company Care Investment Trust and Fair Oaks, Va.- based Inspirit Senior Living in a joint venture purchased the properties, The Village at Willow Lane in Macungie and The Village at Palmerton, from LifeCare Holdings.

Joseph Cimerola, president of LifeCare Holdings, said Monday officials with Inspirit Senior Living approached him about a deal a year ago.

"The timing seemed right," said Cimerola, who founded LifeCare Holdings in 2001 after serving as president and CEO of Allentown's Sacred Heart Hospital. "I have a lot of confidence in [Inspirit]. They hold the same values I do in terms of resident care and staff."

The two properties, built between 2002 and 2003, have about 110 units and employ between 100 and 120 people overall . Both facilities are a level below the level of care provided by skilled nursing homes, Cimerola said.

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Dave McHarg, Inspirit CEO, said the companies plan to spend about $850,000 on interior refurbishments at the facilities. Affiliates of Inspirit will operate the residences, which are being renamed The Willow and The Palmerton, with both identified as Inspirit senior living communities. He said no staffing changes are planned.

They are the first local properties for Inspirit, which was founded by McHarg in 2015. The company also operates senior living facilities in Tennessee and Virginia. Inspirit took over both area facilities on Wednesday, McHarg said.

Since leaving Sacred Heart Hospital, Cimerola has been busy in the senior living industry. LifeCare Holdings, which is a consulting, management and development company for senior living, has been involved in nine facilities in Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties.

The company manages the recently opened Heather Glen Senior Living in Upper Macungie Township, and Cimerola said more facilities are planned. He said ground was recently broken for a memory care facility in Emmaus.